The present invention relates to novel mixtures of sulfuric esters and specific sulfuric esters, processes for their preparation, and their use as dyeing auxiliaries.
Textiles are dyed using leveling agents as auxiliaries. These leveling agents are surface-active substances whose role is to efficiently wet the fiber or fiber blend to be dyed, to promote the penetration of the fibers by the dye, and to inhibit excessively rapid unlevel exhaustion of the dyes during the dyeing process. The use of leveling agents thus makes it possible to obtain an even and uniform dyeing result.
Nitrogenous fiber materials, especially wool, are suitably dyed with anionic dyes, for example, acid dyes, 1:1 metal complex dyes, 1:2 metal complex dyes, chromium dyes, or mixtures thereof.
The prior art discloses a wide variety of leveling agents for dyeing textile materials, especially wool, with the dyes mentioned. For example, the use of phosphoric esters is known (DE-A 16 19 372 and DE-A 19 46 058).
DE-A 19 40 178 discloses the use of polyalkoxylated ethanesulfonic acid compounds or their quaternization products as leveling agents for the dyeing of nitrogenous fiber materials with acid dyes or 1:2 metal complex dyes. The polyalkoxylated ethanesulfonic acid compounds in question have the following structural formula:R1R2N—(CH2—CHR3—O)m—CH2—CH2—SO3Mwherein                R1 represents a C12-C22-alkyl, C12-C22-alkenyl, or C12-C22-cycloalkyl radical,        R2 represents CH3 or one of the groups —(CH2—CHR3—O—)nH or —(CH2—CHR3—O)n—CH2—CH2—SO3M,        R3 represents H, CH3, C2H5, or phenyl,        M denotes a cation, and        the sum of m+n is 5 to 70, at least 80% of the alkylene oxide units in the molecule being ethylene oxide units.        
EP-A 593,392 describes the use of compounds of the formula wherein                R4 is a C12-C24-alkyl or alkenyl radical,        X is H or SO3M,        M is H, alkali metal, or ammonium, and        n+o is 2 to 20,        as leveling auxiliaries in the dyeing of fiber materials composed of natural or synthetic polyamide in an aqueous liquor.        
Wool Dyeing (Editor: D. M. Lewis; 1992, Society of Dyers and Colourists) similarly describes sulfated ethoxylated amines as amphoteric auxiliaries for dyeing wool.
It is an object of the present invention to provide novel substances useful as leveling agents in the dyeing of textile materials, especially wool.